Infinity's Shield
by UnintentionalAuthor
Summary: 'One of the Ice, the other, the Ember...' Though he never knew it, Jack Frost is a part of something larger than the Guardians, connecting him with the universe itself. A new character with whom he shares a strange connection. (O/C. YAY!) Can they keep the darkness at bay and restore the balance? R&R! VERY LONG. Kplus for now only. NO ROMANTIC INTEREST. NONE.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own RotG.**

**I think Dreamworks does.**

**Anyway, sorry if this prologue is kind of wordy.**

Something was coming; the Man in the Moon was definitely, most absolutely certain of that.

He could sense a great darkness skulking somewhere on the blue planet below, a darkness greater than anything ever seen before in the Earth's time.

Whatever it was, it was going to be of catastrophic proportions.

Of course, the darkness's _last_ attempt _had_ been in the neighborhood of catastrophic.

This would be worse. Far worse. He could feel it.

It was the gift the Infinity had given him

So, obeying his instinctive urge, he used his power to search the planet he had so diligently watched since it's sudden appearance in the universe.

Long tendrils of his pale, pearly magic spiraled toward the Earth, swirling through the open night air.

They fanned out, snaking quickly through cities, suburbs, and unpopulated wilderness; searching for an anomaly of some kind.

While the Earth slept, he remained attentive, as it was his liability to the Infinity to do.

After a quick primary probe, the Man in the Moon directed his power toward a small wooded area somewhere in the northeastern United States.

That was where it was the strongest.

The epicentre of a dark plague.

Any mortal wouldn't feel it, but the Man in the Moon's gift allowed him to see deeper, into the metaphysical world.

He concentrated deeply, agglomerating his magic to the point of interest.

It came to him as a tingling, a prickle at the base of his mind.

An image flashed through his brain:

A dark horizon.

Clouds even darker bloomed from the skyline, flowing like water into the scene.

A man sat atop the mountainous storm, riding the clouds and laughing a deep, emphatic, slightly crazed laugh, taking mad pleasure in his obvious power.

As he bellowed, he began to grow; larger and stronger, casting wave after wave of dark magic down to the Earth below him.

Black lightning flickered around him, setting his profile aglow for an instant.

No, it couldn't be.

Not again; so soon.

Pitch for sure.

But he sensed something larger, more powerful than even himself, as well.

A monstrumental dark force that had somehow allied itself with the Bogeyman, fueling his almost infinite power.

Then a huge creature composed of darkness flew into his line of vision.

Black sand flowed from it's maw.

With a deafening roar, it slashed out the image with it's talons.

He was pulled out of the state, his mind still buzzing.

As if the vision had triggered a reaction below, the Man in the Moon felt a deadening feeling creep along the magical pathways that connected him to the Earth.

Perhaps his imagination?

No, wait a moment.

The darkness was physically _climbing _him - his magic.

It spread along the tendrils, crawling for the Man in the Moon himself.

He was too startled to react.

Not knowing how to, he began to panic.

He never panicked. _Never._

He watched in horror as the dark matter creeped ever closer.

He heard that laughter again - Pitch's gleeful, demented laughter.

It reached a dreadful crescendo as the evil slithered up toward it's target.

With Pitch's whoops pounding in his ears, the dark matter licked at the Man in the Moon himself.

As it touched him, he felt a cold shock numb his mind.

It was a sensation not unlike jumping into an icy black lake,the Man in the Moon could see nothing, and was disoriented by the chill; by the fear and darkness.

This blackness fell away from his as his magic dissipated, breaking his connection with Earth.

Feeling weak and breathing hard, the Man in the Moon finally found a clear thought.

_Consult the Infinity._

Could this be the moment the Scrolls had spoken of?

Carefully forming each word in his mind, he sent his message out to the distant corners of the universe, knowing they would be received.

It was always watching.

He retold his vision, and Pitch's inexplicable strength.

He waited, anxious for a reply.

Just when he'd convinced himself the Infinity had decided to leave him to his own decision, he heard it.

There was no mistaking the response.

The deep, majestic tones reverberated inside his mind, shaking him:

_THE TIME OF THE SHIELD IS NIGH._

_LET THE INFINITY'S WARRIORS COME TO POWER._

_YOUR GUARDIANS HAVE THE ICE._

_THEY MUST FIND THE EMBER._

_IT IS TIME._


	2. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the rights to RotG.**

**Well, Chapter 1 is done.**

**Hope you all enjoy it****.**

**Just to let you know, I'm working on two stories at once, (check out my Artemis Fowl/Maximum Ride Xover, The Raven Experiment) so updates will be a little less frequent then I originally intended. Sorry. I know I'm awsome, but I can't write every second of the day. As cool as that would be...**

**Remember, your reviews are always appreciated! Thx.**

* * *

Jack Frost balanced impatiently on a lamppost, frustrated with the fact that he was bored. There wasn't any supercool Guardian-stuff to be attended to, and on top of that, it was a school day.

Yuck.

Even though winter was here and there was a lot more important, productive stuff he could be doing, Jack had long since decided physical work wasn't his style. He had spent all of November and the first half of December nonchalantly tapping on things with his staff, an icy glaze spreading along the surface whenever he did so.

And as everyone interesting was locked up in school from seven til three, there wasn't a lot to do except freeze things over, and practice aerial loop-de-loops - of which Jack could now almost perfectly execute three in a row.

Today, Jack stared at the school building across the street, mentally counting the seconds until the final bell rang and everyone would be let off for winter break.

Ahh, winter break, the perfect combo of Jack's two favorite things: cold-ness and kids.

Jack loved kids. Neither mortal adults nor undying fairytale figures made interesting company, in his opinion. Only the kids had any sense of fun.

As for the cold, well, with a name like 'Frost', _not _liking the cold wasn't really an option.

* * *

To amuse himself, Jack tapped the bustling sidewalk behind him, coating the surface in a crystalline layer of frost. A particularly distinguished-looking pedestrian carrying a briefcase stumbled and slid across the ice, prompting a smirk of satisfaction to pull at the corner of Jack's mouth. As his unsuspecting victim picked himself up and grumbled on his way, Jack heard it:

The three resounding tolls of the old-fashioned school bell. The smirk became a full-out grin as Jack rocked up into the air, toward the oncoming mass of excited little people streaming from the doors.

* * *

Jack flew over the humongous group of kids to the chorus of a million overlapping conversations. He quickly picked out his friends, as they were the only ones who could see him floating above them, and were waving like mad in his direction.

The episode would have looked really strange to the casual passerby, as if the group were trying to flag down an invisible airplane overhead.

Thankfully, the kids had moved _away_ from the school, near the edge of the woods, where everyone always met up.

Jack coasted to a soft landing in front of them, the wind that carried him whipping their scarves and pulling at their hats.

"Well, the gang's all here, then," Jack said. The group of kids able to see him had grown larger in the past few months, Jack's friends convincing their friends convincing _their _friends of his existence. The chain reaction spread so quickly, Jack was seeing at a new face almost weekly.

"Who's ready to have some - " the sentence was cut short by means of a vicious shove from behind. Jack fell forward, landing face-first in the snow. He pulled himself out of the snowdrift he'd fallen into.

"Fun," he finished, rubbing out the snow that blended in with his white hair. He turned to see his best friend, Jamie Bennett, a broad smile decorating his elfish face.

"I _know _you didn't just do that," said Jack, smiling as he picked up a handful of snow, planting his staff in the ground so both hands would be free.

"Just try and catch me!" cried Jamie as he bolted from the scene. "Run, guys!" he called to his friends. "Let there be WAR!"

Jack lobbed his snowball at Jamie's back as everyone scattered, scooping up armfuls of ammo, pelting eachother with icy projectiles.

Just another reason Jack loved winter. What was there to to throw at people during the other seasons? Rocks. Sticks, maybe. And pain wasn't very fun.

* * *

That night, Jack looked up at the stars, stretched out above the city on a power line.

Since everyone was asleep, and Jack had finished his rounds for the night, there wasn't much else left to do but think. Problem was, there was too much to think about at once:

He had his past life to think about - who he was before he was Jack Frost. As enjoyable as it was to remember his easy village life, is was also painful to think about the family he had had and loved.

He also had his Guardianship duties to think about. But, as cool as it was to fight evil and be a 'protector of the world', all that stuff, it was stressful to think about all his responsibilities to mankind; all the weight riding on his shoulders.

As if his Guardian thoughts were some sort of telepathetic cue, Sandy's dream-sand snaked into his line of vision, drifted lazily above his face. Jack held his arm up, the tips of his fingers brushing against the fine, golden sand. It swirled around the contact, images of sweet dreams blooming around Jack's wrist

_Right on time,_ _too, _Jack noted, glancing up at the position of the moon on the horizon - the way he told the hour of the night.

The moon. Gosh, was it big tonight. The last time it was that full, that complete, was before Pitch's first takeover, when the Man in the Moon himself had delivered them the news. Perhaps... perhaps he had something to say...

Jack rose, his face still turned toward the glowing yellow orb in the sky, unblinking.

Then something happened, and he did blink. Was it just Jack's imagination, or had the moon just... flashed?

No, it was not his imagination, for seconds later, the hypnotic lights of the Aurora Borealis glowed in the dark night sky: the Guardian's call to headquarters.

Sandy obviously saw it, too. The dream-sand dissipated, leaving Jack alone with the lights and the sounds of night.

_Better go see what they need, _Jack thought as he rose into the chilly air. He raised his staff, causing a light snow to fall on the city below.

_So the kids'll have some fresh to play in in the morning,_ Jack explained to himself, really for no apparent reason. Then he summoned a massive gust of frigid wind, and raced toward the North Pole.


	3. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own.**

**Sorry for such the long wait, but I'm working on about a million different things at once, and, of course, school trumps everything, so updates will not be extremely frequent.**

**I did _research _for this chapter, believe it or not. All the numerical figures you will see are - to my knowledge - true.**

**Sorry for the length, but I needed to cram a _bunch_ of scenes into this chapter.**

**TWICE UPDATED CONTENT**

**R&R**

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**_ ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※_ **

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**Do you like my new text breaks? **

**You'd better.**

**Those things are covered in my blood, sweat, and tears.**

**I**finity's **S**hield **- cool, huh?**

* * *

_**※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ **_

* * *

It was a chilly ride to the North Pole. Jack was zipping over Canada at 35,000 feet, the temperature measuring a frigid -75° Fahrenheit.

It felt nice.

The sheer gelidity itself set Jack's mind on hyperspeed, his fingertips buzzing with power, and a plethora of overlapping notions bouncing around in his brain, begging to be addressed. He could barely concentrate on any one thing at a time.

But presiding over it all was the memory of what Jack had just witnessed in the sky. The Man in the Moon had something to say, and supernatural beings don't generally just call to chat. There was danger of some kind afoot. Danger that would mean work for the Guardians.

_What's happening here? _Jack thought, willing the wind to push him, faster and faster, toward the North Pole.

_What could have gotten MIM's attention like that? _he wondered, allowing his mind to wander.

Something - call it a premonition - told him it was going to be unlike anything he and the Guardians had faced before.

The question that remained was _what_, exactly?

Jack was so lost in his brainstorming that he didn't noticed the huge commercial airliner advancing.

He immediately snapped out of his thinking trance, swerving madly to one side. The metal behemoth roared passed, the clamour from it's engines shaking his eardrums.

His head would still be ringing when he reached the North Pole.

Ringing aside, even as the jumbo jet shot by at over 500 miles-per-hour, Jack swore he could still see the passengers inside.

Sleeping, scrolling on laptops, wearing out their thumbs on Gameboys - none of them paid him any attention. For the sake of their sanity, though he was glad they couldn't. It would have made quite an odd spectacle indeed - a teenager with white hair and no shoes, floating outside an aircraft window, brandishing a stick.

Jack wondered briefly how many hits that would get on the Internet. A lot, probably. If any of them could see him.

Then he mentally shook himself, and continued his frigid flight.

* * *

**_ ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※_ **

* * *

After a few hours - he had lost track - Jack landed in front of the Guardian's headquarters.

North's house. A formidable fortress, though it looked a bit like a ski lodge.

Jack's impact had kicked up the powdery snow on the ground, several inches deep.

He willed the loose snowflakes to swirl around him, spiraling up, up, into the sky.

Jack watched the moon's brilliant light reflect off their surfaces, making a twinkling cloud of ice - each flake a sparkling star, fluttering in the Arctic drafts.

It was beautiful. Magical.

For a moment, Jack stared up at the glittering mass of falling snow, smiling up at the sky like a complete idiot.

Then the snow cleared, and he saw the Man in the Moon again, still staring down from his perch in the inky black sky.

Jack could imagine MIM scolding him. All like _'HOW DAREST THEE MAKETH STUPID LITTLE SNOWSTORMS WHEN THERE IS-ETH A CRISIS UPONETH US?'_

Jack wiped the smile off his face, unsure why his MIM persona spoke with an Elizibethan diction.

Time to see what the crisis uponeth us was.

* * *

**********_※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※_ **

* * *

Jack stepped - almost ran - into the Globe Room, the rest of the Guardians already present for the meeting.

"Hey, Jack's here! Hi Jack. How are you?" Tooth zipped over to greet him, her hummingbird's wings buzzing quicker than the eye could follow.

Everyone else seemed to be concentrating on something Jack could not see, and turned around at Tooth's words.

Sandy offered a smile and a wave, unable to verbalize, as always.

Bunny nodded once and grunted in Jack's direction, thinking this a sufficient greeting.

North hardly spared Jack a glance, then turned around to continue his work.

"You're late, boy," he grumbled, his back turned, "Do you realize that the dawn is breaking? We're going to lose the connection any moment!"

"I'm assuming this is important, then." Jack replied.

"I'd say, mate," Bunny cut in, "Another catastrophe on our hands, and you take your sweet time getting here!"

"Ok, ok. Sorry. I'm late. I get it. Now does someone mind telling me exactly _what_ the catastrophe uponeth us is?"

"Eth?" Tooth said, confused.

Oops. Nobody else was following _that_ train of thought.

"Never mind."

Bunny rolled his eyes.

A very awkward silence followed.

"So then," Jack said, ending the pause, "What's all the hullabaloo?"

North eyed him quizzically, as if he didn't know what that word meant. Then he motioned to Jack -

"Follow."

North led the party around the huge globe in the middle of the room. He spoke as he walked:

"At oh-three-thirty hours," he began, (Bunny, who was hopping alongside North, rolled his eyes again) "I received an urgent call from Manny; a signal that prompted me to gather you all here. He has shown me of a dire situation to come. As a wise man once said, we have an impending catastrophe uponeth us."

Jack huffed an irritated breath when he realized he was being ribbed.

"And?" Jack said, urging the briefing along.

"And?" North said, halting abruptly, "_And_ this:"

North had stopped near the Globe's base, at an intricate inlay in the stone floor. In the center, surrounded by muted blues and greens, was a large script G - the symbol of the Guardians.

He turned up toward the hatch in the ceiling, from which the light of the Man in the Moon fell onto the design.

"Manny!" North called, "We are assembled. Show us again."

And the Man in the Moon put on his little performance.

Images of made of light and shadow danced on the floor:

Lightning. Black lightning. And dark, rolling clouds.

The other Guardians watched stoically, but the images sent a cold, electric tingle running down Jack's spine. Why did they seem so... _familiar? _

On the floor, the storm parted, and the silhouette of a man walked through. Though the little movie was silent, you could tell he was laughing. It was in the way he threw his head back, and raised his arms with clawed fingers.

Jack was sure now. He had _seen _these things before. But where, he could not place.

But strange things were still happening. The images had been silent thus far, but now, the clamorous sounds of thunder echoed in Jack's head.

And the laughter.

It was _Pitch's _laughter. There were no doubts about that. But it was... different... somehow. Not 100% Nightmare King. There was something more powerful behind it.

Jack's head was spinning now, and he may or may not have been sweating. Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

"Do you _hear_ that?" Jack said to no one in particular.

Everyone stared.

"Hear what?" Bunny said, his massive ears on alert.

"Jack? Are you okay?" Tooth asked, "You don't look so good."

"This is bad. This is very, very bad." Jack tittered, ignoring Tooth's question.

He continued to stare at the images on the floor. Things got worse.

A huge black shape flew into the scene on massive wings, cutting the scene out with a horrifying screech. It had red eyes, nasty talons, and wickedly sharp teeth.

Jack was breathing hard now. Definitely sweating.

_What is up with me today?_ The message didn't _scare_ him, per say, but there was something about them that was... just... unnerving. Familiar. Like Jack had been _born_ with these pictures already somewhere in his head.

"Ja-a-ack?" someone said. He had no idea whom.

Jack knuckled his forehead, his eyes closed. Trying to forget the images while simultaneously trying to remember where he'd seen them before.

Not an easy thing to do.

Then he heard it:

_JACK FROST. YOU ARE THE ICE. ONE OF THE SCROLLS. THE SHIELD MUST BRING THE BALANCE. THE LIGHT. _

It scared him so, much he almost fell over.

The voice was deep and powerful. It didn't belong to a person. Nor a spirit or immortal. It wasn't even the voice of the Man in the Moon.

No.

It belonged to something bigger. A divine power greater than the universe itself.

_The Infinity, _Jack's subconsciousness thought. But his conscious self took no notice.

_"Jack! What's wrong?"_

_"Can you hear me Jack?"_

_"Are you alive, mate?"_

A medley of voices snapped him back into the real world. The Guardian's concerned faces swam into focus.

"I... I," Jack heaved a shaky breath, "Nothing. I'm fine."

Even Jack himself didn't believe the useless and feeble lie.

"Right then." Bunny said tentatively.

Jack looked around.

"Where's my - "

Sandy smiled and held up Jack's staff.

"You dropped it while you were, ah..." Tooth didn't know how to finish that particular sentence.

_Having a random freak seizure_, would have sufficed.

"Thanks." Jack said, grabbing the offered staff. Never had it felt so good to feel the smooth wood under his fingers. It was a comfort thing.

Another awkward silence.

"Well then... " North started, trying to think of something to say.

He didn't have to.

Behind the group, a click sounded, making the still-apprehensive Jack jump.

A blue crystal was rising from the ground. Where the G had been on the floor, the stone slid smoothy away, and a column rose, with the shining stone set on top.

The other Guardians knew what was happening, of course, but Jack had never seen this thing before (The last time it had appeared was for Jack's own choosing).

"What... umm... what?" he said lamely.

"Aww man, not another one!" complained Bunny. "I've already got _you _to put up with!" He elbowed Jack with a fuzzy arm.

"What!"

"Oh, right." Tooth started to explain, "Well, apparently, the Man in the Moon is picking a new Guardian. He shows us who he's chosen with this jewel thingy."

"Alright then."

"No, you don't understand!" North said approaching the crystal on it's pedestal. "This doesn't happen very often, Jack. And when it does, it usually means _bad things _are coming."

_Bad things, _Jack thought, remembering the freaky horror show on the floor. _Very bad things. _He shivered.

The Guardian crystal rose into the beams of MIM, light bouncing off it's azure facets and casting patterns on the walls.

"Who d'you think it'll be this time?" Tooth said, excited.

"The suspense is killing me," Bunny replied, less-than-excited.

_"Pleasenothtegroundhogpleasenotthegroundhog," _Jack heard him muttering, furry fingers crossed.

The light reflecting off the crystal began to swirl. It looked almost like a solid material.

Then the blue beams collected to form a figure.

A girl.

Her image smiled down at the Guardians.

There was silence for a moment, then North broke the spell.

"Who is that?"

This was strange. Generally the Guardians knew who was pictured in the crystal, at least by name.

"Dunno." Bunny said.

Sandy shrugged.

"I don't have any idea, either." Tooth agreed.

But Jack was staring, wide-eyed.

"I know her." he said quietly.

But how, he didn't know. It was like the images on the floor. Jack had never physically _seen _them, but they felt familiar.

Same concept.

His head was pounding again. An electric drone buzzing in his ears.

_Lucy,_ he thought.

_One of the Ice, _

Lines that came from nowhere,

_the other, the Ember._

_Remember... _

_"Lucy," _he breathed, not knowing how he knew but not doubting that this was her name.

All the other Guardians were staring at Jack like he'd just dropped from space.

"Luc - who are you talking about? Jack what on earth is wrong?" North said, taking two steps toward Jack.

_"I have no idea."_ Jack responded sardonically.

Then he promptly passed out.

* * *

**********_※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※_**

* * *

That girl, Lucy, was in his dream.

Her hair was long, flaming red, and framed her face, which was covered in freckles. She wore a plain brown t-shirt, and really old jeans.

She was standing in nowhere - literally. There was nothing but blackness all around.

_Hi Jack, _she may or may not have said. Perhaps Jack's own subconsciousness had supplied the words.

She smiled, her eyes gleaming in a way that made her look almost devilish.

Then she twirled the staff Jack hadn't noticed she'd been carrying, and he would've passed out again if he weren't already unconscious.

It looked almost _exactly_ like his own, aside from the fact it was made of smooth, shiny metal.

He backed away. That stick looked like it could give someone a nasty welt.

She laughed, but Jack could not hear it.

_Don't worry, _she again, may or may not have said, _I'm not going to hit you with it. Honestly!_

_Just thought I'd let you know what you're getting into._

Lucy stopped spinning her staff around and tapped the end firmly on whatever ground that apparently existed.

Sparks flew up around the contact.

Her features adopted a more somber look.

_Sooner or later, there's going to be a war, Jack. It's going to be ugly. You and me and the Guardians against the Black Force. _

Jack was thrown by the last part of the sentence.

"But I _am_ a Guardian," he insisted.

_Are you, Jack? Or are you something more? _She smiled that crazy smile again.

Then she slashed her metal staff through the air - the curved tip passing inches from Jack's face - and was gone in a blast of fire.

Jack did not like fire.

He started into consciousness

* * *

**********_※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※ IS ※_**

* * *

**So there you go.**

**Now review it.**

**Pleasepleaseplease?**

**Ok, what I'll do:**

**If you review, I shall send you, **

**(are you ready for this?)**

_**AN INVISIBLE WATER BUFFALO!**_

**Tempting, huh?**

**Anyway:**

**Next up in _Infinity's Shield_, a prophecy (that is actually longer than what I have up there) kept a secret, and an O/C! Lucy! Yay! (she's got a last name too, but I'll save that for later)**

**ATTENTION TO ALL READERS: THERE WILL BE NO ROMANTIC INTEREST BETWEEN JACK AND AFROEMENTIONED O/C IN THIS FIC. THOUGHT I'D MAKE THAT PERFECTLY CLEAR.**


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